Aerosol Jet Printing of Two Component Thick Film Resistors on LTCC

Abstract

AbstractÀAerosol jet printing is a rather new technology for the deposition of thick film structures offering high line and space resolution. This method offers high potential for miniaturization for thick film structures. The advantages of this technology could be shown with inks carrying a single solid powder (e.g., silver, platinum, ceramic, or glass powder). One of the challenges in printing solid powder mixtures is the differences in the aerodynamic properties of different powders. Those differences result in changes of the mixing ratio within the aerosol jet and therefore poor reproducibility in the finished film.In this work, thick film resistors consisting of RuO 2 with particle size <1 mm as the conducting phase and different glass powders with particle size around 1 mm as the isolating phase were investigated. One glass had a density rather close to RuO 2 , the other glass significantly lower. Inks were made from RuO 2 /glass powder mixtures, a solvent, and organic additives. After manufacturing, the inks are printed on LTCC and the microstructures of the dried and the fired films were visualized by FIB preparation and SEM. The resistances as well as the temperature coefficients of the resistors were measured and compared with resistor films with an identical solid composition manufactured by conventional screen printing. The results of the obtained resistors are presented and discussed in terms of powder properties, ink dispersion, and printing parameters.

Inkjet and Aerosol Jet Printing of Electrochemical Devices for Energy Conversion and Storage

“…In the current aerosol jet architecture, dispersed particles of different sizes and different densities have different atomization probabilities. Thus, there is preferential removal of the more readily atomized particles through time, and associated changes in the deposited material . Addressing this instability in particle size and density distribution would make aerosol jet a more promising technique for manufacturing scale fabrication of electrochemical devices.…”

Electrical and Mechanical Behavior of Aerosol Jet–Printed Gold on Alumina Substrate for High‐Temperature Applications

“…[ 45 ] K. Swiecinski et al AJPed and investigated RuO 2 thick film on low‐temperature cofired ceramic and compared the electric behavior of the printed resistors with screen‐printed resistor films made of the same thick‐film material. [ 46 ]…”

“…[45] K. Swiecinski et al AJPed and investigated RuO 2 thick film on low-temperature cofired ceramic and compared the electric behavior of the printed resistors with screen-printed resistor films made of the same thick-film material. [46] We have recently demonstrated the printability of a gold thick film ink onto 3D-printed 99% alumina substrates using an aerosol jet printer, among other, printing broad band antenna for high temperature, which was measured at temperatures up to 850 °C and 40 GHz. [18] However, this did not indicate how well the materials would hold up when exposed to high temperatures for extended periods.…”